It is always difficult to see an opponent win a match. It is worse when you feel like you did enough to earn a result or even all three points. But to have an opponent celebrate a trophy as you walk off the field, that is the kind of "infuriating" loss (as defender Phoebe McClernon described it) that can fuel a team with spite. On top of it all, as Kansas City celebrated, the Reign and head coach Laura Harvey stewed in the knowledge that even with winning three Shields of their own, they had never been given the shield on the night they won it or received the fanfare by the league that accompanied the trophy ceremony. Of course, as McClernon said after the match, no one will care about this if the Reign can hoist the bigger prize of the NWSL Championship at the end of the playoffs.
The Reign will go home infuriated, and you can argue some of the referee's calls, but Kansas City was the deserving winner in this one. The first half was dominated by KC, who had 66% possession and 13 shots to none. Seattle struggled to connect passes and maintain possession, barely getting into the KC half. The Reign missed 45 of their 136 passes, while the Current missed just 31 of their 258. Still, the danger was largely contained with just one shot forcing a quality save from Claudia Dickey. Unfortunately, that hard work was undone by an error at the edge of the box when Angharad James-Turner left her arm extended and blocked a cross just inside the box. That resulted in a VAR review for a penalty, which Debinha buried despite Dickey getting her hand on the ball.
Signature Debinha from the penalty spot 🎯
— NWSL (@nwslsoccer.com) 2025-09-21T00:30:00.377Z
The Reign's best opportunity came in the dying seconds of the half, when Mondesir and Huitema were on the break, and Huitema was fouled by the last defender as she was trying to receive the ball a bit outside the penalty box. Though a DOGSO red would have probably been harsh, it wouldn't have been out of the question. Unfortunately for the Reign, the ref merely awarded a yellow and blew the halftime whistle rather than letting the Reign take the resulting free kick.
Halftime had a handful of changes, the biggest being the Reign moving to four in the back, with Lauren Barnes and James-Turner off for Maddie Dahlien and Sally Menti. The Reign were able to get more into the game in the second half, though the rhythm was broken up by a series of ankle/foot injuries. Mia Fishel was kicked in the ankle and tried to play through it, but was replaced by Jess Fishlock in the 53rd minute. A short while later Madison Curry was unintentionally stepped on by Temwa Chawinga and was down for a few minutes getting treatment. Then a couple of minutes later the Current's Hallie Mace, who had come on at half, challenged Huitema in the air for a ball, fouling Huitema, and rolled her ankle coming down and had to be subbed off.
The Reign were able to get more into the game, finally getting some shots and better opportunities out of the 4-3-3, but it was the Current who scored the next goal. The Reign couldn't clear the ball out of their box and it pinged around until finding the head of Chawinga, who is again tied for the golden boot lead. The Reign charged back, finding better opportunities with another player higher up the pitch and the speed of Dahlien, but crosses into the box missed their marks and no one could get open for a quality shot. KC would earn another clean sheet, their ten goals allowed a mile better than second-best Gotham's 17.
Comfort
For the second straight game, the Reign shifted from a 5-in-the-back to a 4-in-the-back and immediately looked like a different, more proactive side. After the match McClernon said the team feels comfortable in both formations, but the extra player in the attack gives them more options going forward. Harvey suggested the team may have kept the original formation after the half if they had still been tied 0-0, despite the difference in shots and possession in the first half. Whether it was the formation change, getting fresher and younger legs onto the pitch (going from Barnes (36) and James-Turner (31) to Menti (23) and Dahlien (21)), or the change seven minutes later from Fishel to Fishlock, Seattle will certainly want to find the right alchemy going forward to expand their late-game form to the full 90 minutes.
Balance
Harvey opened her post-game presser with, "I'm going to try not to get fined." It was that kind of performance from center referee Shawn Tehini. While it was difficult to disagree with too many decisions in particular, the whistle seemed to blow much more readily for Seattle infractions than those for the Current through much of the game. Hard physical contact by Seattle was immediately booked while hard physical contact by the Current was maybe not even punished. There was one particularly egregious call where Sofia Huerta was jogging and watching the ball, then called for a foul when a Current player cut in front of her and tripped herself and Huerta. In particular though, it was VAR that perhaps let down Seattle. James-Turner was rightfully called for a handball in the box with her arm extended, but there was some fairly physical contact by KC in the lead up to that cross that could have pre-empted the handball call. And on KC's second goal, Haley Hopkins carried the ball into the box, sliding into Jordyn Bugg as she tried to pass the ball. Anywhere else on the field and that may have been a foul. In the end, the refereeing was not the reason the Reign lost, but it was a frustrating element of a physical game.
Injury
Mia Fishel, having worked her way back from injury into a starting position, was injured again tonight in just her second start. She was handling the ball and kicked in the ankle by KC defender Izzy Rodriguez, leading to what looked like an ankle sprain. Though it is early to speculate, Harvey was pessimistic about the injury after the match, suggesting the injury could see Fishel miss multiple weeks.
What's next
Despite the loss, the Reign are still in good playoff position, thanks to Orlando and Louisville losing again. They remain in sixth place, pending the outcome of the Portland and San Diego match tonight and Gotham's match tomorrow. The Courage winning did put them in position to move above the Reign next weekend when the two meet, so it will be a big game at Lumen Field. That game will kick off next Sunday at 5:00pm Pacific.
